Along with the pandemic came the world of virtual classes and online instruction, and for New York City students, that new world of remote teaching took away one of the most cherished parts of the school year: the snow day. While remote learning theoretically could allow students to continue their education during tough weather, it also reminds students and teachers of the challenges that come with it. Today provided just such a reminder, with numerous outages and Internet issues causing confusion and disruptions across the city.
However, even if the system had functioned flawlessly today, there are a number of people who feel that remote learning on snowy days is both not worth it and depriving young people of an important part of their youth. Here are a variety of perspectives on today’s “remote learning snow day.”
Physical education teacher Gabriela Pedreros: “Nothing replaces the interactions I get to have with my students in-person. Yes, we can learn the concepts of a volleyball game, but how can we get better at physically practicing our skills remotely? It is difficult online. Fortunately, I did not face any technical issues today, but I know others and students who have.”
Junior Nathaniel White: “I like in person a lot more since I get to see my friends and online is awkward….[but] I like not having to wake up at 6 in the morning, so it was kind of refreshing…. So far I haven’t had any [technical] problems but I know a lot of my friends have.”
Sophomore Sergio Luna: “I do find it more difficult [to focus at home] because it’s easier to do other things. I very much do miss the traditional snow days because it was always about enjoying the snow and enjoying a day without school, but now we have to attend online school which honestly does suck.”
Junior Aurelia Liu: “Google classroom not working made it very difficult trying to access my class work. I was unable to log on using my laptop so I had to use an iPad. This led to some confusion as some of my teachers were using zoom and not google meets so a lot of my classmates could not access the join link.”
Freshman Manyata Chhetri: “I prefer remote learning because I can get more time to sleep. I have a long commute to school whereas [for remote learning] I can just log in and start the day.”
Senior Ellison Daone: “It brought me back to online learning during COVID. It’s hard to get people to participate when everybody would rather sleep in or enjoy the snow.”
